Peter McCormack represents a variety of public and private equity clients on all aspects of antitrust matters relating to mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other business combinations, and litigation. With over a decade of experience appearing before federal, state and international antitrust and competition authorities, his representations span hundreds of domestic and cross-border transactions across a broad range of industries.
Peter regularly represents clients on matters before the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general in connection with merger reviews and civil and antitrust investigations, including numerous high-profile transactions. He also frequently counsels clients on risk assessments relating to alternative forms of potential business combinations, collaborations and other conduct issues. Peter has been recognized for his antitrust work by Global Competition Review and The Legal 500.
Peter’s recent representative experience includes:
- BAE Systems on the $5.5 billion acquisition of Ball Aerospace from Ball Corporation
- Huntsman Corporation on various matters, including:
- the sale of its Textile Effects business to Archroma, a portfolio company of investment firm SK Capital Partners
- its $20 billion merger-of-equals with Clariant, which was mutually terminated after Clariant shareholder opposition
- the acquisition of CVC Thermoset Specialties from American Securities; Demilec from affiliates of Sun Capital Partners; and Icynene-Lapolla from affiliates of FFL Partners
- Nexstar Broadcasting Group on various matters including
- the pending $6.2 billion acquisition of TEGNA
- the $6.4 billion acquisition of Tribune Media and related $1.3 billion divestiture sale of 19 stations in 15 markets to TEGNA and The E.W. Scripps Company
- Bain Capital and its portfolio companies on various sales and acquisitions, including:
- various acquisitions involving Imperial Dade
- the acquisition of Big Tex Trailers and subsequent merger with American Trailer World (ATW), which closed after a Second Request, and the sale of ATW’s Tex Trail trailer parts distribution business to DexKo Global;
- the combination of PSA Healthcare and Epic Health Services to form Aveanna Healthcare, the proposed merger of Aveanna Healthcare and Maxim Health Services, which was terminated after an extended FTC investigation, and other confidential matters involving Aveanna
- Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman in the $17 billion acquisition of athenahealth
- Bain Capital and Vista Equity Partners in the $5.35 billion sale of Vertafore to Roper Technologies
- the sale of Blue Nile to Signet Jewelers Limited
- Rocket Software in various matters including the acquisition of ASG Technologies and its $2.275 billion acquisition of the Application Modernization and Connectivity (AMC) business from Open Text
- the sale of a co-controlling stake in US LBM to Platinum Equity, and US LBM in various acquisitions
- the acquisition of HealthEdge, a provider of healthcare technology solutions, from Blackstone and its subsequent merger with UST HealthProof
- Bain Capital-backed Ahlstrom in its acquisition of the Stevens Point facility of Pixelle, a provider of food consumer packaging and e-commerce applications
- TJC, LP and its portfolio companies on various sales and acquisitions, including:
- CPI International, Inc. in the sale of its Electron Device Business to TransDigm Group Incorporated for $1.385 billion, which closed after a DOJ Second Request
- the acquisition of L3 Harris Technologies’ Commercial Aviation Solutions business
- the $1.8 billion acquisition of the Delrin business from DuPont
- Arclin in its $1.8 billion acquisition of the Aramids business from DuPont
- KKR and its portfolio companies on various sales and acquisitions, including the $1.6 billion acquisition of CIRCOR International and the $1.3 billion acquisition of Chase Corporation
- Clearwater Analytics in its $1.5 billion acquisition of Enfusion, Inc., its acquisition of Beacon Platform, and its acquisition of Bistro, Blackstone’s proprietary portfolio visualization software platform built for Blackstone’s Credit & Insurance business
- Lone Star Funds and portfolio company Forterra in its sale to Quikrete, which closed after a DOJ Second Request
- Warburg Pincus and its portfolio companies on various sales and acquisitions, including Quantum Health in its acquisition of Embold Health, a provider of healthcare technology
- Kinderhook Industries and its portfolio companies on various sales and acquisitions, including:
- Rural Healthcare on its acquisition of Steward Medical Group and Steward Health Care Network, forming Revere Medical, and Revere Medical in its acquisition of CareMax’s Management Services Organization
- Capital Waste Services and EcoSouth in their acquisition of assets as a divestiture buyer pursuant to a DOJ Final Judgment in United States Republic Services, Inc.
- the sale of Circon Holdings to Covanta, a portfolio company of EQT Infrastructure
- the acquisition of Mobile Mini Tank and Pump Solutions, Inc. from WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings and combination with the Adler Tank Rentals acquired from McGrath RentCorp
- Nordic Capital and its portfolio companies on various sales and acquisitions, including:
- LEO Pharma on its exclusive global license and transfer agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim to commercialize and advance the development of SPEVIGO
- Cint Group on its $1.07 billion acquisition of Lucid Holdings
- Transactions and advisory matters involving Arcadia, United Veterinary Care, One, Inc., Inovalon, Zafin Labs and ActiveViam
- Summit Partners and its portfolio companies on various sales and acquisitions, including portfolio company Trintech in its acquisition of the Financial Reconciliation business from Fiserv
- Advantest Corp. in its $1.1 billion merger with Verigy Ltd.
- Ainsworth Lumber Co. in its successful merger with Norbord, Inc., which received DOJ clearance after a Second Request investigation, and in its terminated $864 million merger with Louisiana-Pacific Corp
- In connection with American Airlines’ $11 billion merger with US Airways Group, Inc., represented AMR Corporation’s Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors as part of AMR’s Chapter 11 reorganization
- CF Industries in the $1.4 billion sale of its phosphates business to The Mosaic Co. and its $910 million acquisition of Viterra’s stake in Canadian Fertilizers Limited
- Martin Marietta Materials in connection with the antitrust aspects of its litigation against Vulcan Materials regarding Martin Marietta’s hostile exchange offer for Vulcan and related proxy contest
- SanDisk in its successful trial defense against claims brought by Kingston Technologies relating to SanDisk’s licensing policies
- S. professional sports leagues in various confidential matters, including arbitration matters pursuant to the NHL and NBA collective bargaining agreements
- Watson Pharmaceuticals in connection with its $5.6 billion acquisition of Actavis Group
- K1 Investment Management and its portfolio company Smarsh in the acquisition of the Digital Safe business of Micro Focus; its portfolio company ComplySci in the acquisition of RIA in a Box; and other matters
- Investindustrial in matters including its carve-out acquisition of the Meal Preparations Business of TreeHouse Foods and its investment in Eataly to accelerate international expansion efforts
- Corning in its acquisition of a controlling stake in the Hemlock Semiconductor joint venture from DuPont
- Owl Rock Capital Group in its agreement with Dyal Capital Partners to form Blue Owl Capital an alternative asset management firm with over $45 billion in assets under management
- Boise Cascade Company in its acquisition of engineered lumber production facilities from Georgia Pacific
- Thomas H. Lee Partners in the $1.4 billion sale of Curo Health Services to a consortium led by Humana
- Private equity sponsor and its portfolio company in the $1 billion acquisition of a competing hospice provider
- Confidential hedge fund client in connection with DOJ Antitrust Division investigation
- Consolidated Aviation Services in its sale to Worldwide Flight Services, a portfolio company of Platinum Equity
- LNK Partners in the sale of Niman Ranch and its parent company Natural Food Holdings to Perdue Farms
- Sentinel Capital Partners and portfolio company Hollander Sleep Products in the acquisition of Pacific Coast Feather
- Centerbridge Partners in its investment in Heartland Food Products Group to finance the acquisition of Splenda from McNeil Nutritionals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson
- Private equity clients including Arsenal Capital, Bright Star Capital, CIVC, Genstar, New Mountain Capital, Nordic Capital, Starr Investments, Summit Partners, Vestar, Warren Equity, WCAS and their portfolio companies on various confidential transactions and antitrust advisory matters
Professional Affiliations and Thought Leadership
Peter’s recent publications include:
- Co-author, “Populist Instincts: A Trump Administration Antitrust Merger Retrospective,” Antitrust Magazine, Volume 35 No. 3 (Summer 2021)
- Co-author, “Prepare For Antitrust Scrutiny Of PIPEs, Partial Acquisitions,” Law360 (June 29, 2020)
- Author, “INSIGHT: Planning for Government Antitrust Merger Litigation During and After the Pandemic,” Bloomberg Law (April 17, 2020)
